Light fixture



July 21, 1964 B. MOORE 3,141,719

LIGHT FIXTURE Filed Aug. 5. 1961 5ue// Moore /7 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,141,719 LIGHT FEXTURE Bueli Moore, Houston, Tex., assignor to Esquire, Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 129,044 2 Claims. (Cl. 339-112) This invention relates generally to a light fixture and, more particularly, to an improved fixture of the type shown in my copending application, Serial No. 38,994, filed June 27, 1960, now Patent No. 3,097,903, and entitled Light Fixture.

It was the purpose of my earlier invention to provide a light fixture for use with a lamp known commercially as Quartzline and manufactured by the General Electric Company. In this type of lamp, the filament which extends through the sealed ends of the envelope is made of molybdenum. Since this material oxidizes at 350 C. and, upon oxidation, would expand to break the seal, I provided a light fixture having sockets of such construction and so arranged in the case of the fixture as to quickly conduct heat away from the terminals of the lamp.

I have found, however, that there may be instances in which even greater heat is encountered, such as when the lamp is operating at a high voltage, and it is therefore an object of this invention to provide a light fixture of this type which is capable of quickly conducting same away from the lamp.

A more particular object is to provide such a fixture in which this increased heat conduction is made possible by an attachement to the basic structure shown in my earlier application, whereby such earlier construction need not be altered in any fashion.

Another object is to provide such an attachment which may be assembled and disassembled without removal of the lamp from mounted position and which is of simplitied and inexpensive construction.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon consideration of the written specification, the attached claims and the annexed drawing.

These and other objects are accomplished, in accordance with the illustrated embodiment of this invention, by a light fixture in which a sleeve is removably disposable closely about each sealed end of the lamp and the socket in which said lamp end is mounted so as to directly conduct a portion of the heat from said sealed end to the socket. In its preferred form, the sleeve is split longitudinally for movement into and of close fitting relation about the sealed lamp end and socket without prior removal of the lamp from mounted position.

More particularly, the longitudinally separated sleeve parts are hingedly connected for swinging between an open position to pass over the sealed lamp end and socket and a closed position for fitting tightly thereabout. The hinge is preferably of such construction as to resiliently maintain the parts in the closed position, thereby eliminating the need for additional parts to serve this purpose.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters are used throughout to designate like parts:

FIGv l is a front elevational view of a light fixture constructed in accordance with the present invention and including the heat conductive sleeves assembled about the sealed ends of the lamp and sockets of said fixture;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the light fixture upon an enlarged scale and taken along section line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of one end of the fixture also upon an enlarged scale and taken along broken line 33 of FIG. 2, certain parts of one socket being shown in elevation; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the heat conductive sleeves in its open position and removed from about the end of the lamp and adjacent socket of the fixture of FIGS. 1 to 3.

Referring now particularly to FIG. 1, the light fixture, which is indicated in its entirety by reference character 10, comprises an enclosed case 11 mounted in an upright position upon a mast fitter 12 which is releasably fitted over the upper end of mast 13. A lamp 14 of a character to be described more fully hereinafter extends horizontally across the case and has its opposite ends electrically mounted within sockets 15 on opposite end 16 of the case.

A depending arm 18 on the lower side of the case is pivotally connected by a pin 20 to the upper end 19 of the mast fitter 12 to permit the case 11 to be swung about a horizontal axis. Thus, the angular direction of the beam of light from the lamp 14 may be adjusted without, at the same time, disturbing the substantially horizontal disposition of the lamp which, as previously noted, is essential if the envelope is to remain clear.

The back 21 and opposite sides 16 of the case 11 merge to form a generally concave housing having its inner surface covered with a reflector 22 for reflecting a desired pattern of light from the lamp 14- through a glass window 23 on the front of the case. This window is mounted within a frame 24 to form a cover 25 which is releasably connected across the open front of the housing to enclose the case. More particularly, the cover and housing are provided with matching flanges having openings to receive wing nuts 25a or other releasable fastening means.

The lamp 14 comprises a tungsten filament 17 con tained within a quartz envelope 26 which is long and thin in configuration. The opposite ends 27 of the envelope are pinched down or flattened (FIG. 2) to seal about a molybdenum wire 28 which is welded at its inner end to the filament 17. Each outer end of the wire is provided with a terminal 29 supported by a ceramic fitting 30 over the end of the envelope. It should be understood, of course, that the description of this lamp is merely for the purpose of illustrating the novel aspects of the light fixture 10, and that, as in my earlier application, the construction of such lamp does not comprise any part of the present invention.

Each socket 15 comprises a tube 31 tightly received within an opening 32 through each side 16 of the case. Thus, the inner diameter of each tube 31 provides an elongated opening 33 through one side of the case which is axially aligned with a similar opening through the other side thereof. A sleeve 34 of ceramic material such as porcelain, which is electrically insulating and heat conducting, is fitted closely throughout its length within the tube 15. A terminal 35 has a large body or plug which is fitted closely within the ceramic sleeve 34 and spaced from its inner end to provide a recess 36 therein for receiving the ceramic fitting 30 on the end of the lamp 14.

This terminal 35 has a protuberance 37 on the inner end of its enlarged body for contacting the terminal 29 mounted on this sleeve, and electrical conduits 38 extend from each terminal through the outer end of the opening 33 through the tube 31. The conduits 38 then extend through an opening 39 in the back 21 of the case for further extension (in a manner not shown) through the mast fitter for connection to a source of power. The exterior portion of the conduits are protected by a plate 42 which is bolted at 43 or otherwise removably secured to the end of the case 16 over each of the openings 32 and 39 therein.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inner end of each terminal body is upset at 43a for engagement by an inwardly facing annular shoulder 44 on the ceramic sleeve surrounding such terminal. Also, a thin sheath 40 of fiberglass or other electrical insulating material is passed over the outer end of each terminal body for extension outwardly therefrom about a portion of the inner end of the electrical conduits 38. The inner end of this sheath is cemented to each of the terminal body and surrounding ceramic sleeve 34 at the annular intersection between the outer end of such sleeve and the electrode body. Thus, the terminal and ceramic sleeve of each socket will move inwardly and outwardly with one another within the opening 33 of the socket.

The ceramic sleeve and terminal of the left-hand socket 15 are releasably held against outward movement from the position shown in FIG. 2 by means of a small pin 45 which extends through the tube 31 for engagement with the outer end of the ceramic sleeve 34. As will be apparent from the drawing, inward movement of the ceramic sleeve and terminal is limited by the electrical conduits 38. The sleeve and terminal of the right-hand socket are also limited insofar as further inward movement is concerned by means of the electrical conduits 38. However, these parts of the right-hand socket are yieldably urged inwardly by means of a coil spring 41 which is compressed between the outer end of the sleeve 34 and the inner side of the plate 42 covering the outer end of the right-hand socket.

More particularly, the spring 41 is yieldable to permit the terminal 35 of the right-hand socket to be moved outwardly from the position shown in FIG. 2 a distance suflicient to bring the lamp 14 into alignment with the recesses 36 in the sockets. That is, upon assembly of the lamp within this fixture, the right end thereof is first pressed against the spring-pressed terminal of the righthand socket so as to enable its left end to be moved past the inwardly extending portion of the tube 31 and into a position opposite the recess 36 in the left-hand socket. Then, the left-hand end of the lamp may be eased into its recess 36 until its terminal 29 engages with the protuberance 37 of the terminal of the left-hand socket, at which time the lamp may be released to permit the compressed spring 41 to further expand in equalizing the force with which the terminals engage one another on opposite sides of the lamp.

Obviously, the lamp 14 is removed from mounted position by a reversal of this procedure. That is, the lamp is first moved to the right so as to compress the spring 41 an amount sufficient to permit the left end of the lamp to be removed from its recess, at which time the lamp may be moved longitudinally to the left to remove its right end from the recess 36 of its socket. It is further obvious that, if desired, the terminal of both sockets may be urged inwardly to yieldably engage the terminals 29 on opposite ends of the lamp.

The ceramic sleeve and terminal of each socket, as well as the spring 41 of the right-hand socket, are removable from and insertable into the outer end of the opening 33 of each socket. Obviously, in the case of the left-hand socket, this removal and insertion requires manipulation of the pin 45 which, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is accessible through the front side of the case.

Preferably, the housing of the case 11 is an integral casting of aluminum, although it may be formed of separate parts of aluminum or other suitable material. Although the opening 33 in each end of the case is, in the illustrated embodiment, provided by a separate tube 31 of aluminum or other metal, it may be provided by a tubular portion case integrally with the ends of the housing. As previously mentioned, the sleeve 34 is of a suitable ceramic material, such as porcelain, which conducts heat, but insulates against the passage of electricity. As is conventional, the terminal 35 is formed of a metal such as copper.

7 As described in my earlier application, socket 15 will quickly conducts the heat in the lamp 14 away from the molybdenum Wires 28 to prevent the latter from reaching a temperature which would otherwise break the seal of the end 27 of the envelope about it. Thus, the large body of the terminal 35 provides a rapid path of heat conduction from the terminal 29 through the protuberance 37. Also, as previously noted, this large body of metal is closely received within the ceramic sleeve 34, thereby providing a large annular area for heat conduction from the terminal to the sleeve 34. Still further, and again as previously noted, the sleeve 34 extends closely within the metal tube 31, thereby providing another large annular area by means of which the heat may be conducted from the sleeve 34 to the metal tube 31, and thence to the large body of metal provided by the end of the case 16. This heat in the sleeve 34 not only results from the heat conducted to it by the large body of terminal 35, but also by virtue of heat conduction from the end of the lamp 14 which is received within the recess 36. Thus, in summary, this socket provides three distinct paths of heat conduction away from the end of the lamp which surrounds the molybdenum wire 23.

In accordance with the improvements of the present invention, and as previously described, a sleeve 46 is removably disposed closely about each sealed end 27 of the lamp 14 and the socket 15 adjacent such end. More particularly, the sleeve surrounds the end of the tube 31 of the socket and is also formed of aluminum or other heat conductive metal so as to conduct a portion of the heat from the sealed lamp end 28 directly through the tube to the large body of metal of the case. 1 have found that this additional means of conducting heat away from the lamp prevents the molybdenum wire 28 extending through the sealed end 27 from being excessively heated, even when the lamp is operating at higher voltages than previously contemplated.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, each sleeve includes a pair of identical semi-cylindrical parts 47 each having interconnecting recesses 48 and 49 therein to form, when such parts are disposed opposite one another, openings which closely receive the sealed lamp end and metal tube 31 of the socket. Thus, the recesses 48 are shallow and channelshaped to form the narrow rectangular opening about the sealed lamp end, and the recesses are deep and semicircular in cross-section to fit the cylindrical tube 31.

The sleeve parts 47 are formed from a short section of bar stock which is bored from one end to provide the opening for fitting the socket. An opening is then punched in the opposite end of the bar to fit the sealed lamp end, and the bored stock is then split longitudinally to form the parts 47 with recesses 48 and 49 therein.

The sleeve parts 47 are hingedly connected by a strap 51 of spring steel for swinging between a closed position in which the sleeve is disposed closely about the lamp end and socket, and the open position of FIG. 4, in which the sleeve will pass the lamp end and socket for disposal thereabout or removal therefrom. As shown in FIG. 4, the opposite ends of the strap are secured by pins 51 to the outer side of each sleeve part for extension across one separation therebetween. Thus, the strap not only serves as a hinge, but also resiliently urges the sleeve parts to closed position so as to retain the sleeve assembled about the lamp end and socket.

As the sleeve is assembled, its parts need only be held in the open position of FIG. 4 as they are moved laterally into position over the sealed lamp end and socket and then gently released or permitted to close thereon. Removal of the sleeve merely requires a reversal of this procedure.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus and structure.

It will be understood that certain features and sub combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A light fixture, comprising a case having spacedapart sockets, each socket including a tubular heat conducting portion extending inwardly from a side wall of the case and surrounding a terminal, a lamp having an enlarged central filament portion intermediate flattened portions at each sealed end electrically mounted between the terminals of said sockets, and a sleeve fitting closely about each flattened sealed end portion of the lamp and the tubular portion of the socket surrounding the terminal to which the sealed end portion is electrically mounted for conducting a portion of the heat directly from said flattened end portion of the lamp to said heat conducting tubular portion of said socket, each said sleeve comprising longitudinally separated parts hingedly connected to one another for swinging between an open position to pass over said flattened sealed end portion of the lamp and the tubular portion of said socket and said position fitting closely thereabout.

2. A light fixture, comprising a case having spacedapart sockets, each socket including a tubular heat conducting portion extending inwardly from a side wall of the case and surrounding a terminal, a lamp having an enlarged central filament portion intermediate flattened portions at each sealed end electrically mounted between the terminals of said sockets, and a sleeve pair of semi-cylindrical metal parts each having e and reduced interconnecting recesses in the opposite en s thereof to form a narrow rectangular opening through one end fitting closely about each flattened sealed end portion of the lamp and a large cylindrical opening throu h h other end fitting closely about the tubular portion of the socket surrounding the terminal to which the sealed end portion is electrically mounted, so as to conduct a portion of the heat directly from said flattened end portion of the lamp to said heat conducting tubular portion of said socket, and astrap of spring metal having each opposite end'secured to the outside of one part of the sleeve and extending across one separation between said parts of the sleeve for normally holding said parts in said oppositely disposed relation, but permitting them to be swung to an open position in which they may be passed over said sealed end portion of the lamp and tubular portion of the socket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,694,774 Clark Nov. 16, 1954 2,701,866 Chapman Feb. 8, 1955 2,799,010 Carson July 9, 1957 2,829,870 Poppe Apr. 8, 1958 2,952,005 Detch Sept. 6, 1960 3,097,903 Moore July 16, 1963 

1. A LIGHT FIXTURE, COMPRISING A CASE HAVING SPACEDAPART SOCKETS, EACH SOCKET INCLUDING A TUBULAR HEAT CONDUCTING PORTION EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM A SIDE WALL OF THE CASE AND SURROUNDING A TERMINAL, A LAMP HAVING AN ENLARGED CENTRAL FILAMENT PORTION INTERMEDIATE FLATTENED PORTIONS AT EACH SEALED END ELECTRICALLY MOUNTED BETWEEN THE TERMINALS OF SAID SOCKETS, AND A SLEEVE FITTING CLOSELY ABOUT EACH FLATTENED SEALED END PORTION OF THE LAMP AND THE TUBULAR PORTION OF THE SOCKET SURROUNDING THE TERMINAL TO WHICH THE SEALED END PORTION IS ELECTRICALLY MOUNTED FOR CONDUCTING A PORTION OF THE HEAT DIRECTLY FROM SAID FLATTENED END PORTION OF THE LAMP TO SAID HEAT CONDUCTING 